Forgiveness by Punch
by Virus
Summary: Returning to Mt Justice, Tim finds that his Ex and best friend are together. He wants make mends with them and purposes a simple way. Earth-27 canon.


Forgiveness by Punch

Tim Drake walked through Mt Justice, a flood of memories entering him mind. The better days of youth. No, he couldn't think that way. He wouldn't be that guy; one that lives on nostalgia and lets it effect his life. He would push forward, come whatever may.

He looked around for any of the other members of "The Team" as they were calling themselves. Dick complained that Tim should give it a snappier name, even if they were a covert team. Tim shot the idea down. Besides, they were likely just going to keep calling themselves Young Justice anyway.

His train of thought was interrupted by Impulse aka Wally West entering the main room "Hey Tim. We were wondering when you would finally show up. I mean, you came up with this covert team thing".

"Yes and I still needed to get the League on board with it. The founding members needed to approve of the last finishing touches. We aren't going to be public like the old days. Hey who is here right now"?

"Well, Artemis is here of course and Megan and Lagann are in town".

"What about Conner and Cassie"? Tim interrupted, seemingly wanting to know about them the most.

"Well, the lovebirds are probably having alone time in the lounge". Tim's eyebrow arched at Wally's words "Lovebirds"!?

"Oh you haven't been here in the last couple of months. Go inside, you'll see" Wally took his leave, leaving a confused Tim in the main hall.

Tim decided to go to the lounge, to see what was going to on. He opened the door to something he never thought he would see, Conner and Cassie making out on the couch like a bunch of teenagers. Guess that's what Wally meant. Tim knocked on the door, starteling the two heroes.

"Oh Tim"! It was Cassie that first spoke "You're, well probably wondering as to, well" No matter what happened between them, Cassie getting flustered always put a smile on his face. It was so cute.

"What Cassie is trying to say" Conner said, speaking a little more clearly than Cassie "You're probably wonder what this, as in what we where doing, is all about". Tim stood still, waiting for said answer "Well, we came here about 3 months ago after you recruited us and we got to talking and emotions got a little high and here were are".

"And this is serious"? Tim was trying not to sound jealous. He wasn't as he had Stephanie now. And he had no right to feel jealous, not after what he did to Cassie. He still feels rotten for that. They were each other's first. And then there was Conner. He pretty much abandoned him, even though that was mission focused rather than a person issue. Still didn't make him feel better.

"Yeah, it kind of is" Cassie finally got herself together. Tim could sense a little bit on hostility in her words. He deserved it. Still, he didn't want to lose her friendship or his "I'm happy for you, I really am. I want you to be happy".

Conner and Cassie looked at each other, feeling the unease in Tim's voice. They could sense that Tim wanted to be their friend, wanted to make amends and be forgiven. Both of them wanted it too. Tim had hurt them in different ways and it both would never forget it. They were human, well half in the case of Conner and Cassie and made mistakes, fall in and out of love, let emotions get the better of them. It would never be as it was in the past, Conner and Cassie being together was already a testement to that, but it wasn't too late to make a better future.

Cassie was the first to speak "Thank you, Tim. But the truth is, you did hurt me and you did hurt Conner, in a way. We want to be your friend again, but it's not going to be an easy fix. Hell, it took Diana to convince me to come on this team. You're going to have to work for it".

Tim took Cassie's words in. He was more than willing to work for it, what ever it took. Conner was his best friend and while Cassie was no longer his lover, he still wanted her in his life "Anything it takes. I'll even let you hit me".

Cassie's eyes widened and did Conner's. Cassie walked a little closer to Tim "You are offering me to hit you"?

"Yes Cassie. I figure it would be a good first start to mending our friendship. I'm sure part of you has wanted to deck me on for a while". Indeed she has. While she wasn't as angry with him anymore, she did want to vent on him. And here he was, offering such a thing up. Cassie decided to take the offer.

"Ok then. One hit. I'll try not to hurt you too much" Cassie's voice was playful, putting Tim at ease. Cassie winded up her punch and then made contact, which was enough to knock Tim to the ground.

"Oh God, Tim"! Cassie rushed over to Tim, Conner following behind "Tim, I am so sorry. I only meant to give you a small punch"!

"Well that wasn't a small one Cassie. His shoulder is dislocated" Conner said while scanning with his X-Ray vision.

Cassie was now panicking. She really did only meant to give him a small punch "Tim, I swear, I didn't mean to hit you that hard"!

Tim was able to get up, with a little help of Conner "No, it's alright. I probably did deserve it." Tim walked over to the nearest wall and smashed his shoulder into it, yelling in pain as he did.

"Holy! So that movie thing with dislocation works" Conner asked, he and Cassie being shocked by Tim doing something like that. Well, not too surprised considering who raised him.

"Yeah, it does. I will say that it's a lot more painful in real life. Now if you excuse me, I'm going to the med-bay to have this looked at". Tim began leaving, Cassie trying once again to apologize, with Tim saying not to worry, that he had it coming. Cassie was left feeling real bad about. Yes, she was still a little mad at Tim, but not to that extent.

"Are you sure you're getting over that whole Tim thing"? Conner asked, seeing his girlfriend feeling down.

"Yes. Maybe there is a little bit of resentment. I really didn't mean to hit him that hard".

"Well, remind me never to get you that mad. I can take a hit better than Tim, but still" Obviously Conner was being playful, which Cassie loved. In fact, she started to cheer up quite a bit "Well then, make sure you know who your girl is. Although, I don't mind getting a little ruff in other contexts".

Conner instantly had a mile wide smile on his face, which Cassie matched. They then went back to what they were doing before Tim entered, making a mental note to visit him later.

As for Tim, he was currently in the med-bay, Wally and Artemis were tending Tim's shoulder.

"You know, that was probably a dumb idea on your part" Artemis said, looking over Tim's shoulder to make sure it was totally in place.

"Thanks, I needed a put down. It's not like I'm not feeling like crap already"

"Was it worth it, Tim"? Wally asked.

"If something bad happened between you and Artemis, something that broke you up, wouldn't you want to make mends"? Wally's face said it all. Of course he would. Granted, he would never get in the same position that Tim did, but he would want Artemis to be a part of his life.

"Good thing, he wouldn't do what you did. I would do far worse than dislocate his shoulder" And knowing Artemis, that was no idle threat.

"Baby, you can pound me all you want. The pain would be worth it, I'd enjoy it" Same old Wally. Tim liked this. It might not be them as Young Justice or even the Titans anymore, but they were all friends and it made him happy for the future.

He just hope that future didn't involve more shoulder injuries from his teammates.


End file.
